Neighbors Come Together to Help Elderly Neighbor Duped by Contractor

A few weeks ago, Robert French, an elderly neighbor in Rochester, NY was surprised when his contractor – a former tenant of his – abandoned his house unfinished.

He was even more surprised when his neighbors showed up the following weekend to finish what his contractor had started.

“I’ve lived here since since 1939,” says Robert. “It’s always been a wonderful place to live.”

He says he doesn’t have much to his name, but he does have his home.

Robert had turned to his former tenant to get help painting his home and preparing it for the winter, paying the man up-front. The man disappeared with the money, leaving the project only a quarter of the way finished. The home was badly in need of fresh paint, gutter cleaning, and landscaping.

Robert’s neighbor, Jeannie, heard what happened and decided she wouldn’t just offer her sympathy – she’d offer a hand.

“We decided we needed to do something,” she said. She posted on their neighborhood’s Nextdoor website asking if anyone could help out, and neighbors came through where the contractor hadn’t.

Dozens of neighbors came together and surprised Robert, letting him know they would help take care of the rest of the work. One neighbor owns a contracting business, and his entire crew volunteered for the day to scrape old paint off the house, prime it, and do a bit of woodworking repairs. The rest of the neighbors helped chop weeds, mow the lawn, and rake up piles of leaves.

Neighbors say they were just trying to make the situation right again for Robert.

“This kind of restores my faith in humanity,” says Jeannie. “It’s incredible what neighborhoods have the ability to be.”